The Air Force offered up this tidbit in a statement released Saturday:

[The program] "has the potential to make space experiments more affordable, which would allow future experiment designers to focus resources and dollars on technology and innovation rather than on basic services, layers of redundancy, or ground operations."

The mission is scheduled to last 270 days, give or take. The first X-37B stayed in orbit for 224 days before landing safely in December. [CNET]